1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to winged corkscrews having non-stick coated worms. In particular, the invention relates to mechanisms that prevent the worm from turning in a reverse direction and slipping out of a cork when a user attempts to remove the cork.
2. Description of Related Art
Winged corkscrews conventionally include a worm, which may be in the form of a wire wound helically about an axis, having a point at a lower end for initial insertion into a cork and having a handle at the upper end to aid rotation. The corkscrew conventionally has two similar wings (sometimes called arms) extending symmetrically outwardly on opposite sides of the axis and engagingly attached to rings about the axis. As the worm is inserted into the cork, the rings move downward with the worm and the wings are raised upwards. Then, to remove the cork from the bottle, the wings are lowered to their original position against the corkscrew, thus raising the worm and the cork.
In order for the worm to more smoothly enter the cork and to minimize the possibility that the cork might crumble, the worm may be enameled or coated with a non-stick surface coat, such as Teflon(trademark). However, if the worm is slick-coated, when the wings of the corkscrew are lowered, the worm may turn in a reverse direction and slip out of the cork without raising the cork from the bottle. Furthermore, known corkscrews lack a means to center the worm on diverse size bottle necks that may come in various bottle neck diameters. As a result, the worm sometimes obliquely enters a cork or enters the cork at an offset. A cork is likely to be broken or crumbled when the worm enters at an oblique angle or an offset axis.
The present invention prevents a non-stick coated worm from slipping out of a cork when the cork is pulled from the bottle and also helps to center the corkscrew onto the bottle and align the worm in the center of the cork. The term xe2x80x9ccorkxe2x80x9d as used here means any bottle stopper material that may be used as a cork.
An improved winged corkscrew has a lock box that prevents a non-stick coated worm from turning in a reverse direction and slipping out of a cork when wings of the corkscrew are closed to raise the cork. In one example of the operation of the invention, the lock box locks onto a collar on a main shaft of the cork screw. In another example of the operation of the invention, a cam on the main shaft forms a one way rotational ratchet with the lock box. When the worm is fully inserted, the wings are lowered to remove the cork, but the ratchet prevents the worm from turning in reverse and slipping out of the cork. In another example of the invention, the corkscrew has catches that are fitted to ordinarily accept small bottle necks, but have the flexibility to enlarge to accept wide bottle necks. This helps to center the corkscrew on the bottle and align the worm into the center of the cork. After the cork has been removed from the bottle, the lock box is unlocked to allow the cork to be removed.